Nanoha X Sword Art Online: Concerto of Blades
by empty265
Summary: A dimensional anomaly assaults Arthra, and the three aces of the TSAB are teleported to an unfamiliar world - the virtual world of Sword Art Online. Consisting of several separate stories describing the lives of the three teenage girls, as they adopt to a world without magic or even their real bodies. No guarantee on updates, as this is to supplement my main fanfiction.. :)
1. Author Introduction and Notes

**Introduction – World and Character Settings: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe; credits to the creators and contributors to the Nanoha series and related works_

**Author Notice: I will be away on a trip for the next while, so my updates will be irregular at best, please don't abandon me. **** =o)**

Main World: SAO AU – Please refer to my main fanfic

Base Floor: 61- Salemburg

Active Characters:

Canon: Kirito, Klein, Argo, Asuna, Heathcliff, PrinceofHell (Vasago Cazals), Redeye Xaxa, Johnny Black

From Nanoha Series: Fate, Nanoha, Hayate

OC: Aki ?,

**New System Skills:**

System Call

Verbal System Access

Instead of using the menus to access player menus, players that have completed a certain quest can access player commands through verbal chanting. Unfortunately, through extensive testing, it is believed that SAO does not have a spell system installed.

[FormChange]

Quickly equip different weapon, armor, accessories

Upgraded from [mod:weapon quickchange]

[Flash Step/ Sonic Move etc.]

Dash skill – Upgraded from [sprint]

High speed movement to point of being unable to perceive. Limited to straight line movement, though multiple activations are theoretically possible.

**Characters (SAO):**

Kirito – Level 87

Asuna – Level 84

Klein – Level 80

Argo – Level ?

Heathcliff – Level ?

PoH – Level ?

Redeye XaXa – Level ?

Johnny Black – Level ?

**Characters (Nanoha):**

Yagami Hayate – Level 80 – Warhammer

Equipment: Grap Eisen – Warhammer

Rein Force Mk2 – Bracelet

Skills: 2H Warhammer – 777

Explosive Usage – 666

Explosive Creation – 816

Cooking - 985

Sword Skills:

[Gigante Hammer]

Warhammer

Heavy AOE (5m circle)

2s skill lag, 15s cooldown

Jumping into the air, and smashing hammer on ground. 360-degree, shockwave neglects armor, causes tumble (100%), stun (80%), paralysis (50%). Friendly-fire risk.

[Diabolic Emission]

Throwing weapon + Explosive

Ranged Medium-damage AOE (10m dist, 5m blast radius)

2s skill lag – 20s cooldown

Explosive is thrown at target area, then shot by using charged pick. Explosion shoots metal fragments in 5m spherical radius. Causes bleeding (100%), knockdown (50%). Friendly-fire risk.

[Ragnorak]

Warhammer + Explosive

Wide Area AOE – front projection (200m, 150-degree cone)

5s skill prep, 20s skill lag, 600s cooldown

Explosive is thrown in air, then is slammed by warhammer. Explosion blasts fragments in cone shape in 150-degree cone. Causes bleeding (100%), knockdown (100%), stun (80%), paralysis (50%). Friendly-fire risk.

Takamichi Nanoha – Level 84 – Spear / Crossbow

Equipment: RH Series – Spear – Main Weapon

RH Series – Crossbow – Accessory Weapon

Raising Heart EX – Necklace

Skills: 2H spear – 723

2H crossbow – 855

Explosive Usage - 981

Battle Healing – 955

Sprinting - Mastered

Searching – Mastered

Shurikenjutsu – 760

Sword Skills:

[Shurikenjutsu]

Passive Ability

Accuracy +200%

Thrown Weapons +200% ATK

Inheriting the blood and tradition of the Takamachi family, Shurikenjutsu is considered a basic discipline. In SAO's system, the skill was assigned based on potential talent.

[Accel Shooter]

Explosive + Crossbow

LOS – Up to 5 shots, 50M range

5s attack delay, 15s cooldown

Up to 5 charged arrows are fired, which explode on impact. Stun (60%)

[Divine Buster]

Explosive + Spear

Linear Charge – 20M range

5s attack delay, 20s cooldown

Charged attack using spear, creating explosion upon impact. Critical (80%)

[ACS Charge]

Crossbow + Spear +Explosive

LOS – 10 shots, 50m range, + Linear Charge 50M

10s prep, 15s delay, 300s cooldown

10 explosive shots are launched, followed by player charge. Multiple explosion possibility. (Critical 90%, Stun 90%, self-damage 50%)

[Starlight Breaker]

Crossbow + Explosive

Heavy AOE (20M, 10m radius)

20s prep, 20s delay, 600s cooldown.

Multiple explosions are thrown at area, then exploded causing cascade explosion. Friendly-fire risk.

Fate Testorossa – Level 86 – Scythe/Great sword/Twin blades

Equipment: BA Series – Scythe

BA Series – Zamber Greatsword

BA Series – Riot Blades

Bardiche Assault – Gauntlets

Skills:

2H Scythe – Mastered

2H Great-sword – 811

Dual blades – Mastered

Thrown Blades – Mastered

Hiding – Mastered

Sprint – Mastered

Battle Healing – Mastered

Searching – Mastered

Musical Instrument -Harp, Vocal

Sword Skills:

[Lightning Spike]

Throwing Pick

LOS - 50m range, up to 10 shots

2s delay, 10s cooldown

Throwing picks are throw at enemy, causes stun (80%), paralysis (20%)

[Arc saber]

Throwing ring + Scythe

LOS – 20M + Linear Charge 20M

2s delay, 5m cooldown

Lightning ring is thrown at opponent, then player quickly rushes enemy from different angle.

[Shin Phlanx Shift]

Throwing Picks + Greatsword

50M scatter shot + 50M Linear Charge

10s prep, 15s delay, 300s cooldown.

Picks are throw at enemy while player travels in fast motion. Finishes with charge with great-sword. Critical (100%), Stun (80%), Paralysis (60%)

[Force Zamber]

Great-sword

20M Linear Charge

5s delay, 60s cooldown

Charged great-sword attack, armor piercing, cannot be stopped once triggered. (Critical 90%)

[Shin Sonic Form]

Dual Blades

Speed +300%. ATK + 300%, DEF -50%

30s Delay, 300s

Summoning Riot Blades and forfeiting defense, the ultimate attack technique that tolerates zero mistakes.


	2. Resolve X Regret

**Introduction – Resolve X Regret: **

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe; credits to the creators and contributors to the Nanoha series and related works_

Aincrad Standard Time: [19:00]

Location: [35th Floor – Forest of Wandering]

The [Forest of Wandering] lay in silence, having been abandoned for a while since nightfall, the bulk of the players had moved onto higher levels, and what remained of the stragglers knew better than to challenge the forest during nighttime.

In the dead of the night, as lone figure ran through the woods, his black poncho repelling the rain, which dripped onto his red dagger that resembled a large butcher knife. A murderous streak of red lined the blade, and made the water dripping of it look like blood.

Suddenly, the man stopped dead in his tracks, then jumped up in the air, beneath him flew a donut-shaped blade, causing sparks to fly as it scratched the ground. The air suddenly popped, and the western-looking man drew his dagger and blocked the gleaming golden blade of a scythe. A curse escaped from the wicked face of the man, as he stared his pursuer in the eyes.

"Keh, so persistent are we, Missus Fate. I did not know you were such a clingy type of person." The man laughed, as his murderous intent shone through his eyes, which seemed deadlier than the demon-weapon [Mate Chopper] that he wielded.

"Your reign of terror ends here, Prince of Hell. Surrender now and you will be treated fairly." The blond girl announced, as she pushed harder downwards, slowly advancing against the leader of the former-PK-guild 'Laughing Coffin'.

"Ha… you're telling me to surrender? After all I've done? I don't think even you're naïve enough to think that I'll come peacefully…" PoH voice returned to his quiet machine-gun style, and the blond girl jumped back quick evading the [Poison Shot] that send several throwing picks at her original position.

Fate gripped the handle of her beloved weapon [Bardiche] – more specifically [BA series - Scythe] in the SAO world, and prepared to attack. With a flash of light, the young girl that was originally not from this world, engaged in an epic conflict with the biggest villain to date in the world of SAO.

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Aincrad Standard Time: [20:00]

Location: [61th Floor – TSAB Temporary 'Base']

Fate Testorossa opened the door to the house that she purchased in Salemburg, completely drained from the previous battle.

"Welcome home, Feito-chan!" a familiar voice welcomed her return, and her lifelong friend (whom she met several years ago), greeted with a warm smile.

"I'm home, Nanoha. Hayate!" Fate raised her voice so that her other precious friend would hear her in the kitchen.

"Welcome back, Fate-chan!" Hayate's reply echoed in the large mansion.

"So Feito-chan, how did it go?" Nanoha asked enthusiastically, which Fate replied a little downcast.

"Nope, I caught up to and even cornered PoH, but in the last moment he escaped. I guess it's sort of right what he said, that I don't have the proper resolve." Fate recalled PoH's parting words as he disappeared with a smoke screen explosive.

"_You can't defeat me if you can't even build the resolve to kill me. At least Kirito-kun was prepared to taint his hands in cold blood."_

"It's not true Feito-chan, you have all the resolve it takes to catch PoH without killing him. Although the rules in this 'place' are a little skewed, we should not give in to the temptation of solving problems using these shortcuts. Remember what we had learned through our training in the TSAB…" Nanoha put her hand on Fate's shoulder, and reaffirmed that she supported the ideals that the two shared.

"Thanks, Nanoha, I'll keep trying and won't give up." Fate smiled as Nanoha, as she followed her into the kitchen. Greeting them was a full table of cooked food, and Hayate was finishing the dessert.

"Hayate, you cooked so much again?" Fate exclaimed, as Hayate laughed.

"Oh my, I guess I did. The cooking procedure in this 'place' is too simple, so I must have overdone myself subconsciously." Hayate laughed, as she tapped her head lightly.

"Ahaha… just like Hayate-chan to do something like that.." Nanoha let out a light laugh, the three sat down at the table, and began to eat their food.

It had been over a year (to their subjective sense), and the three aces of the TSAB had started to get used to this unfamiliar 'place', apparently a virtual game in a parallel world, where death was equivalent to losing all the HP in their HP bar, the bar which that appeared on the top left of their vision.

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[One year ago]

Location: [TSAB Interdimensional Ship – Arthra ]

"All system's normal, approaching insert id planet – Earth. Estimated time: 5 minutes]"

"Good job. It seems like we'll be on time. Wouldn't want the girls to be late for their reunion… I'm going to head over to take a look at your sister. Chrono, you have the bridge."

"Yes, maam."

"Chrono?"

"It's regulation though… (*glare*)…. 'Yes, mom' ("Good")…"

Chrono sat down in the captain's chair, while Lindy disappeared into the lower levels.

"Chrono-kun will always be Lindy-san's son... don't you forget it." Amy smiles as she teased her commanding officer.

"Don't rub it in Amy, or I'll get you back." Chrono replied, as he set up the system screens to monitor the readings of the inter-dimensional subspace.

"Really now? I'll hide your juices again…" Amy quickly fired another shot at Chrono, as he finished setting up.

"In that case, I'll stop combing your hair for a week." Chrono looked up and grinned.

"Eh! That's not fair… Just when I was hoping that Chrono-kun would help me comb my hair tonight? Please? Oh, while you're at it can you also give me a massage? I'll show you my new swimsuit! I bought it specifically to show to you…"

*BEEP BEEP * [SYSTEM WARNING]

"Unidentified special fluctuation, source unknown." Amy spoke as she brought up the warnings.

"There's a field disturbing our inter-dimension barrier, see if we can reinforce our barrier."

"No effect, the field is cutting through our barrier like it did not exist."

"Can we cancel and jump back to normal space."

"Negative, the system override's not letting me stop, plus we've only got a few seconds left. May be bumpy."

"ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Chrono shouted through the announcement system, as a severe shock rocked the ship.

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"Report: any damage?" Chrono asked, while going through the computer reports.

"Nothing, but we're trapped in the field, it's cut into the ship…. To the docking area!" Amy shouted in shock, as she realized that the docking area was where everyone was gathered.

"Amy, hold the fort, I'm going down!" Chrono got up quickly and left.

"Chrono… uh… OK…" Amy was left speechless as she was left in charge of cleaning up the mess.

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"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, can you feel it too?" Hayate asked her two seniors, who were acting as observers for her 'observation term', but were actually her seniors for her TSAB training.

"Yes, there is a slight magical resonance in this 'field' thing…" Nanoha replied.

"I can also feel elemental magic, and also… a great sense of sorrow and despair" Fate added.

"I wonder what it is?" Hayate took a step forwards, and reached the edge of the 'field'.

"Hayate! Stop!" Lindy's voice echoed in the room as she sprinted to the three cadets, but she was too late to stop the events that followed.

The field that remained stationary thus far, suddenly expanded and engulfed the three girls, then just as quickly it shrunk and disappated. Lindy was left speechless at the event, but she quickly regained her senses.

"Bridge! Trace the field's origin."

"Yes maam, the origin… is Earth… but wait… there is a dimensional phase variance… and furthermore temporal variance…. I think I've found them." Amy's voice suddenly cut off.

"Amy?"

"You'd better come up here Lindy-san. It looks like Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Hayate-chan are caught in a temporal void. The earth that the three are caught in… it's stuck in-between parallel universes, as well as temporal black-hole. There's no telling how much time has passed by inside at this point…"

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Aincrad Standard Time: [20:30]

Location: [61th Floor – TSAB Temporary 'Base']

"Well, I must admit that I'm more and more impressed by Hayate-chan's cooking" Nanoha commented, as she finished the dessert.

"Of course, I'm almost done mastering the [Cooking] skill. If there's one thing good about this simplified system, it's that I can cook the exact meal every time as long as I meet the stats requirements." Hayate laughed cheerfully, as she started bringing the dishes to the sink. "Oh, and the fact that cleaning is as simple as a tap. Shamal-san will probably give me a lecture when we get back… ahaha…"

"Still, I'm amazed that she actually trained [Cooking] in a game that's supposed to be a life-or-death scenario… I mean, who else does that?" Nanoha quietly remarked, and Fate was seen nodding silently in acknowledgement.

(Author's Notes: At the same time, somewhere a few houses down, a certain rapier wielding beauty suddenly sneezes, and wonders if she had caught a cold. A good chance to insert 'Cold Hand, Warm Heart' maybe?)

"So Feito-chan, I suppose you're heading to the usual place afterwards?" Nanoha asked Fate, who nodded.

"Ah, so Fate-chan's going to meet the boyfriend again?" Hayate teased, as she walked out of the kitchen.

"_Mou_… it's not like that…" Fate denied in a panic, "first of all, he's more like a brother, sort of like Chrono nii-san, and secondly…" Fate cast a look to Nanoha, who tilted her head innocently.

"Well, now that your memories have returned, it's all fine and dandy. I heard some tasty rumors flying around the time when you lost your memories though…how you were the first wif… wha!" Fate used a [Sonic Move] to close in behind Hayate and stopped her from continuing...

"Hayate… please? Otherwise I'll expose your destruction streak to Argo…" Fate's voice suddenly changed from tooth-aching sweet to absolute-zero chilling.

"ahaha… understood." Hayate weakly complied, and Fate let go of her.

"Feito-chan, you've gotten faster again, my eyes can't catch up to you now." Nanoha praised Fate, which caused her face to turn glowing red.

"Anyways… I'm going to go out now, see you soon." Fate quickly equipped her items, and ran out the door.

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Aincrad Standard Time: [21:00]

Location: [19th Floor – Outside Ralback - Cemetery]

Fate walked quietly over the grass leading to the cemetery, trying not to disturb the place that buried the souls of the perished, even if the entire existence may be a mere game. Slowly crossing the cemetery, she walked to the black-haired swordsman.

"You knew I was here didn't you?" The black swordsman spoke quietly, looking at the grave that stood in front of him.

"Yes I did, Kirito…-san." Fate responded, slightly uneasy due to her recent memory fluctuation.

"Heh, I must say it sort of feels refreshing to have Fate refer to me as '-san' again… maybe I should also call you 'Fate-san'?" Kirito joked, trying to alleviate the tension.

"Please don't, it'll make me feel even more awkward. Sorry Kirito, I won't use '-san' again." Fate said with slight embarrassment.

"Well then, Fate, should we go?" Kirito asked.

"Let me pay my respects first." Fate replied, as she kneeled at the graves of her former comrades, the ones that fell when they assaulted the headquarters of [Laughing Coffin], the ones that both she and Kirito failed to protect.

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Aincrad Standard Time: [21:30]

Location: [7th Floor – Pillars of the Seven Stars]

"3…2….1… Duel!" The system counter announced the beginning of the duel.

Kirito stood with his beloved blades, [Elucidator] and [Dark Repulsor], ready by his side. On the other side Fate held her [Bardiche – Scythe], her blonde-twintails flowing in the wind.

"Kirito, how do I strengthen my resolve?" Fate asked Kirito as the two stood in ready positions.

"I do not know… I've never thought about that to be honest." Kirito answered honestly, to which Fate laughed, instantly dissipating the tension that had built up.

"Guess it's not constructive to ask you questions like that." Fate chuckled, as she looked as Kirito's lost expression.

"That's a little mean? Why'd you ask?"

"Well, I chased down PoH earlier today, but he escaped." Fate noticed that Kirito's gaze became intensely sharp for a second, "He told me that I had no resolve, no resolve to kill him. I agree, but I want to develop the resolve to catch him that will be just as strong."

Listening to Fate's, Kirito sighed "As expected, Fate is strong as usual. To be honest, my resolve will never reach that strength." Looking at Fate's surprised expression, Kirito continued, "I've already resolved to kill him is that's what it takes…. But that's already the extent of my resolve. It takes more resolve to drop personal grudges and arrest that person based on his sins."

"No, Kirito, you're much stronger than I am, if you were at the scene I'm sure PoH would not have been able to flee." Fate rejected Kirito's self-defeating saying.

"Still, I would have exacted my justice by killing him. It takes more to uphold the proper justice than to use justice as an excuse to fulfill personal goals… and I clearly realize that I'm of the latter group, and you the former." Kirito spoke melancholically.

Raising his blades again, Kirito changed his voice. "Anyways, let's not brood over spoiled milk. You said you wanted to strengthen your resolve, then let's see how your resolve fairs against my own."

"Kirito, before we start let me show you something… SC FormChange Shin Sonic!" As Fate recited the SAO voice command to access the [FormChange] skill, Kirito eyes widened as his crossed his blades.

Fate equipment immediately glowed and was replaced with a slimmer, less defended armor suit, and her scythe had been replaced with two short blades that were approximate the same length as Kirito's.

"So when did you acquire the skill [Dual Blades]? I always thought it was a unique skill." Kirito asked

"Well, I've always been an irregular presence, so I suppose an appropriate excuse would be 'it just happened'?" Fate replied with a smile, and then held up her blades, "So should we see how strong the legendary [Dual Blade] skill is?"

Kirito nodded, then charged in with a [Double Circular], which was blocked by Fate's [Cross Upper]. Kirito noticed that he was actually being overpowered, noting that Fate delayed her block as long as possible, giving him much less leverage than she had. Jumping back, he initiated a charging [Slash Circle] which Fate dodged by jumping backwards.

"Sonic Move" Fate whispered as she landed, disappearing from sight. Kirito immediately put both blades sideways and jumped back, blocking Fate's [Vorpal Strike] in midair as it doubles his air-time backwards.

Taking a breath, Kirito lowered his blades, watching Fate do the same.

"I will be very annoyed if you told me you just received this skill today…"

"_masaka_… I've been training by myself for a while… I just mastered the skill today." Fate gave off another smile that make Kirito want to smack himself for being played.

"Just out of curiousity, do you have the skills [Starburst Stream] and [The Eclipse]?" Kirito asked, and his expression became serious after that.

"Yes, and I've also studied the ways of blocking it. Want to try?" Fate lowered crossed her blades, and waited for Kirito's attack.

Grinning, Kirito pushed off the ground and felt the system assist take over, both his blades glowing brightly. His first deadly combo, [Starburst Stream], had 16-hits and was the fastest assault skill that was currently known in terms of hit speed, even surpassing the expert rapier 8-hit skill [Star Splash].

Fate drew her blades upwards, blocking the first assault, then took the assault head on using a combination of her blades and intricate footwork that looked more like a dance than a duel. At the end of the [Starburst Stream], Kirito was left open for counter attack, and Fate gave Kirito a light punch on his chest to push him back, winning the first-hit duel in the process.

"Well, I would have lost that one. Guess overly relying on the system has its drawbacks." Kirito said, sheathing his two blades. "I guess the result would be the same with [The Eclipse]…"

"Well, I know very well that your fighting ability increases substantially when it comes to life and death situations. However, in friendly duels of strategy and technique, I've got at least a decade more than you in terms of experience, so don't feel bad." Fate teased Kirito with a gentle smile.

"I swear, this is almost unfair, all of a sudden you suddenly make me look like a clown in terms of skill and combat ability. To think that just a week or so ago you were still following me like a lost puppy." Kirito sighed as he viewed Fate's like an elder brother watching his sister get married away.

"Come on Kirito, mentioning that's not fair." Fate said calmly, "Besides, the fact that you were my savior back there remains unchanged. I'm grateful that I met you and spent that precious time with you, and this gratitude doesn't change – whether I've recovered my memories or not." A slight pain surfaced in Fate's heart, but she quickly calmed it down.

"Well, it's just that Fate suddenly sort of became an elder sister character once you recovered your memory, I'm just having a hard time adjusting to it." Kirito explained, as he put his hand on his head.

"If you like, I can start calling you 'Kirito-nii-san' in front of Suguha-chan…" Fate offered, and Kirito jumped up in shock and waved his hands.

"Spare me please… anything but that…" Kirito pleaded, "Silica did that only once, and Sugu ended up mad at me for the entire week.

"In that case, I _really_ should try it out then…" Fate let out a chuckle, "well, let's go back, it's getting late now. Don't want you to get in trouble for coming home late now…"

Watching the blonde beauty turn around and walk away, Kirito couldn't help but feel that he was being led around by the ring on his nose.


	3. SAO Set UP!

Nanoha X Sword Art Online – Chapter 3 – SAO…. set.. UP! : 

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from the words that I write and the characters that I create. Thanks go to the numerous fanfic authors that inspired me, as well as the original creator of the SAO universe; credits to the creators and contributors to the Nanoha series and related works_

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:30]

Location: [61th Floor – TSAB Temporary 'Base']

"I'm home, Nanoha-chan. Hayate-chan!"

Fate greeted her friends as she opened the door to the house in Salemburg. Oddly there was no reply, and the house seemed quiet. Fate walked into the corridor carefully, though she was not too worried – inside this game called SAO the towns were considered an area where no 'players' took any damage.

If this was the real world, Fate would have no problem finding her companions, as her magic detection would be able to pinpoint the other girls' location. However, in this game all her magic sense were dulled, so she would have to search with more traditional methods. Walking up to the second floor, she heard the sound of water and understood the reason that nobody returned her greeting.

"I'm home, Nanoha-chan. Hayate-chan!" Fate greeted again as she opened the bathroom door, this time her greeting was returned.

"Welcome back Feito-chan!"

"You're late Fate-chan, so we went ahead without you."

Fate smiled as she too entered the grand bathroom that resembled a public bath, the room was so large that it didn't seem possible to fit in the house. After a brief shower, Fate entered the giant tub and the three girls relaxed in the warm water.

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After their bath, the three sat in their combined bedroom as usual, going over the events of the day.

"Come to think of it, it's been a month since we were reunited, times sure have passed quickly." Hayate suddenly said.

"Well, the last month was pretty busy to say the least; we didn't even get much time to actually investigate the cause of us being stuck here. Hopefully now that everything is settled, we'll have time to find a way out of this world." Fate nodded in agreement.

"I still can't believe that Hayate-chan retained all your memories, it would have been great if you didn't enter this world so late." Nanoha added, "Though I must admit what happened here will become wonderful memories in the future as well."

"Yup, it definitely will. I'm glad that even without our memories, Nanoha still found me and brought us back together." Fate commented, looking at an embarrassed Nanoha.

"More like you found me… neither of us had our memories back then, so it was almost miraculous that we relived our first meeting." Nanoha pouted. "Though this time you defeated me completely without effort…."

"Haha… so the ace of ace is frustrated with losing?" Hayate teased Nanoha, as she snuggled to the other girls. "So, you still haven't told me everything about what happened before I met up with you two. I feel I'm getting left out of the loop…"

"Nanoha and I only met up a few days before you found us, so there wasn't too much honestly. Most of the time was spent figuring out what the nature of this world was, as well as how we got here." Fate explained.

"Before that… I suppose I can say that I had a chance to live the life of my elder brother and sister, following the road that I would have taken had I not met you two – as an aspiring ninja." Nanoha laughed as she joked, though it was very possible that she ended up taking that route.

"I'd love to hear about that… but probably later." Hayate gave Fate a suggestive look, "First, I'd like to hear more about your story, considering you were here for the longest time – having being sent here half a year before us. Oh, and I'm not trying to pry into your relationship with your in-game 'brother'…"

"Feito-chan… I'd like to know as well… all you've told me is that Kirito-san is like a brother to you. I'd like to meet him someday as well…" Nanoha added.

"Uh oh, Nanoha-chan's starting to investigate your infidelity, you'd better fess up." Hayate joked, to the rebuttal of the other two.

"Hayate-chan!" Nanoha exclaimed.

"Hayate! It's not like that, I…" Fate wisely stopped before she dug her grave deeper.

"Haha… sorry, I got carried away. It's just too fun teasing you two. So Fate-chan, how about you tell us about what happened when you first got trapped in this game?" Hayate quickly changed the subject.

"Well, my memories are sort of fuzzy now that all my memories have returned, but I remember that when I first entered this world, I had lost all my memories."

Fate leaned back onto her pillow, as she began to describe her first few days in SAO, the few days that shaped the path she would take in the year to come.

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[Date: December 15, 2022]

Aincrad Standard Time: [12:00]

Location: [7th Floor – Pillars of the Seven Stars]

Under the darkened skies, lightning struck in all directions. Amidst the roaring thunder, the seven pillars began to glow a bright purple white. Strobes of lightning began to connect the seven pillars, and converged to a ball of blazing plasma.

All of a sudden, the ball of lightning exploded into a blinding light, and a shockwave shook the foundations of the entire floor. As the shaking subsided, silence returned to the 7th floor. In the middle of the plateau containing the seven pillars, the young girl lay on the ground.

Struggling to rid herself of the drowsiness in her head, Fate got onto her knees and looked around, everything in her vision seemed slightly off, and nothing made any sense. A headache assaulted Fate as she attempted to recall the events that led her to this situation, and nothing came up.

Struggling to get up, Fate stumbled into one of the pillars, still unable to arrange her thoughts. Steadying her stance, Fate realized that she only remembered her name, and very little apart from that.

Looking down at her hands, she notices a glimmer on the back of her right hand, where a golden gem is attached to the glove that she is wearing. At the same moment, a flood of memories flood into Fate's mind, causing her to collapse onto her knees.

"Bardiche..." Fate muttered as she struggled to retain those memories, but all she could recall were the times she was swinging her beloved partner - her training days with the polearm, the first time she accessed the axe form, the first actual combat, her destined encounter with...

_Who was it again? _Fate wondered, and at that instant the headache returned.

Stopping her thoughts, Fate held her hands together, gentling caressing the gemstone on her glove, which glittered in the light but did not respond.

"What happened to me?" Fate asked herself, but she was unable to answer.

"Welcome to the game Sword Art Online, stranger" A voice of a young girl answered Fate's question.

"Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?" Fate quickly presented three questions in quick succession; her mind was still in confusion.

"Confirming that your status is not that of a 'player', and that I am not forbidden to come into contact with you. Greetings 'irregularity', my name is 'Mental Health Counseling Program' – version 1.0 – codename Yui." The little girl spoke softly.

"Mental Health Counseling Program?" Fate repeated the girl's words as a question, whatever memories she still had told her that a 'program' did not seem to match that of the little girl's appearance.

"Yes, I am a program, an Artificial Intelligence, which exists within this virtual world. I am here to confirm the nature of your existence, and to integrate you as a player of this world. Afterwards I am to cease any further contact with you, as I am forbidden to contact any entities that are classified as 'players'." The little girl spoke with little emotion, her white skirt flowing in the gentle breeze.

"So Yui… are you able to tell me what happened to me?" Fate asked hopefully, at this point the little girl was the only source of any information.

"Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine the source of your entry into this world. Neither me nor my superior program are able to explain how you entered this world. From observing your vitals, I have determined that you are genuinely unaware of the situation as well. As such, the system has determined that you are no longer a potential threat to be eliminated."

Fate looked at the girl dumbfounded, unable to comprehend most of the things that girl said.

"First, let me introduce to this world you are residing in – a virtual game world called Sword Art Online. It is a realm created by a technology that recreates your senses, and allows you to feel that you are living inside this world."

Fate nodded her head, barely understanding the notion of a virtual world.

_So that means that I'm inside some sort of fake reality, a game of some sort?_

"However, although this realm is set as a game, there are still rules that all 'players' must abide by. The most important being death, as I have been informed that dying in this realm is equivalent as dying in reality."

The revelation did not shake Fate too much, who did not even realize the fact that she was in a virtual reality, but she took note of the little girl's words.

"If you glance to the upper left corner of your field of vision, you can see that there is a green bar – that represents your Health Points. In this game if you lose all your HP what awaits you is death, be sure to avoid it at all costs. Now if you raise your right hand like this, and perform a downwards swipe, you can access what is called the 'system menu'."

The girl performed the motion of opening the system menu, and Fate followed in imitation.

Fifteen minutes later, the AI Yui had explained to Fate everything regarding the SAO system, as well as the weapons usage and character settings. It took quite some time for Fate to understand the concept of an RPG, though she was not sure whether it was due to her amnesia or whether she never encountered games in her past.

After her explanation, Yui observed Fate carefully.

"Odd… your equipment ID suggests that all your equipment was recently created in the system, and have a higher access priority than what I can modify. I will have to report this to the governing program, and determine whether you are allowed to carry equipment as such."

Fate looked at the girl puzzled, then looked down at her body.

Underneath her black cloak, the pitch black clothing that Fate wore gave her a sense of nostalgia, making her believe that these clothes were those that she often wore before she lost her memories. She put her left hand on the gem that was on her right glove, and a sense of warmth entered her soul.

"I have communicated with the governing Cardinal system, and it has deemed your equipment status as acceptable. As such, you will be allowed to use your equipment freely from now on. Furthermore, your character attributes have been resetted, you may redistribute your skill points as I have taught you previously. I would recommend you make a focus on Agility, in order to maximize your equipment benefits."

Fate nodded her head, as her instincts told her the same thing.

"The system has modified your character level, and you will start at level 20. Furthermore, the random skills that have appeared on your character will remain unchanged, but any new skills will occupy the remaining skill slots. I have noted that your character file has access to the skill [System Call] – which grants the ability to access the system menu through verbal commands, as well as the skill [FormChange], which grants you access to equipment presets. I will now show you the details of the skill."

Finally, after 30 minutes since the initial encounter, Fate was able to more or less grasp the concept of SAO. She looked at the little girl who was nodding, and noticed that the emotionless girl had started to smile.

"Thank you for teaching me about SAO Yui." Fate thanked the girl politely, and in return the girl nodded her head.

"I'm just doing what my programming instructed. My initial purpose was to ensure that players do not become overstressed in this environment. It is a relief to finally be able to do what I was created to do, a part of me feels that I have achieved something in my existence." The little girl smiled again, and Fate could feel a sense of happiness that should have been absent in something that should have been a mere AI program.

"At this point, your initialization as a player is now complete. Object ID# "MHCP001" will now be prohibited from further contact with the player. I wish you good luck." Yui's expression flashed a moment of sadness, as her emotionless face returned. The girl floated into the air, and glowed as she faded into the environment and disappeared.

"Thank you…" Fate whispered as she got up. She had no idea where she was to go, as according to Yui she appeared in an unpopulated area of the 'game', but in any case the only thing she could do was to keep moving.

Opening her system menu as taught by the AI program, Fate examined her skill list. 7 Skills were 'active', and there was one skill that was grayed out.

2H Scythe – 300

2H Great-sword – 100

Thrown Blades – 200

Hiding – 100

Sprint – 800

Battle Healing – 200

Searching – 200

unknown

Closing her skill menu and opening her equipment menu, Fate examined her two weapons – a scythe and a greatsword bearing the name BA Series. Opening the item submenu, she noted the STR prerequisites of both weapons, as well as the note of "Stats increase with refine level"

Switching over to her attribute menu, Fate allocated the minimal amount of STR to meet the requirements of her weapons, then put the remaining points into AGI. Afterwards she created her equipment presets as instructed by Yui, and materialized several items that would increase her HP and put it in the pouch on her belt.

Looking down at her scythe, a sudden vision entered fate's mind – a vision of her, a red creature that resembled a dog, and a gentle woman that looked like her mother. She recalled that she was once told to 'locate and obtain the jewel seeds', and suddenly an obsession overtook her rational thought.

Brandishing her scythe, Fate walked into the forest, the hesitation in her eyes replaced with determination. Her first target was a [Dark Forest Wolf], one of the faster mobs on the 7th floor, which bared its fangs as it growled. In an instant, the blonde girl disappeared from the wolf's sights, and reappeared behind the wolf as she brought down her scythe.

The black scythe transformed into a blur of darkness, and the yellow gem on the scythe traced out countless trails of gold. By the end of the seven slash attack, all performed without the assistance of the system, most of the wolf's HP had been depleted.

_I don't know what I need to do, but I remember that I was told to find something called jewel seeds, and that's what I'll do. If the information provided by Yui is correct, then I should eventually find the jewels as a 'drop' from one of these monsters in this game._

Slicing the scythe upwards, Fate sent the wolf into a shower of polygons, as she continued to walk onwards.

_Wait for me mother, I'll return to you and onee-chan._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Aincrad Standard Time: [22:30]

Location: [61th Floor – TSAB Temporary 'Base']

"Ahaha… I'm already starting to pity the first people you met…" Nanoha let our an ambiguous laugh, she remembered what her best friend was like when she first met her, and circumstances couldn't have been worse.

"Luckily, throughout the first several days I did not actually meet with any people, due to the fact that I appeared on a floor that was skipped by the bulk of players. Also, my mental shape wasn't as bad as it was back when we first met either, so I didn't exactly attack indiscriminately everything in my path… I think…" Fate tilted her head in thought.

"To be honest, the first several days felt like a blur to me even now, and I completely lost count of how many monsters I defeated. I'm sure my previous experience helped me, as I quickly remembered, or relearned melee combat, and by the time I met an actual player I could proudly say that I had pretty much understood the nature of combat in this world."

"Well, that's probably natural, since melee combat training was part of your life even since you were a child. It's a miracle that there exists a person in this world with the ability to fight you to a draw." Hayate commented.

"Yet, despite my combat experience, the first person that I met in this world fought me to a standstill. No, I suppose I actually lost, as he held back his trump card in that battle." Fate recalled fondly.

"It was 'him', wasn't it?" Hayate teased, watching as Fate blushed slightly, and then at Nanoha's innocent expression.

"Yes it was. He was a powerful rival, and even more powerful as an ally. I'm glad that he helped me throughout the year, otherwise it might have taken a lot longer before I could be reunited with you two."

"Well, you're not dodging the subject tonight, tell me about this 'special person'." Hayate spoke with an commanding voice, as she crawled towards Fate intimidatingly.

"uh…. Hayate.." Fate's predicament was interrupted when a chime began to ring.

"Oh, a message." Nanoha was the first to open the message, since she was not involving herself with Hayate's antics. "Looks like we've received another request. Tomorrow morning at 7:00AM."

"We'd better sleep early then, goodnight Nanoha, Hayate." Fate quickly returned to her spot and pulled up the blankets, much to Hayate's disappointment.

"Ahaha… guess you missed your chance again." Nanoha looked at a disheartened Hayate, as she got back into her spot on the gigantic bed.

"Just you wait, I'll get you one day." Hayate grinned as she too pulled up the blankets, as the three teenage girls ended yet another day in the virtual world of SAO.

**Author Notes:**


End file.
